page_title: Dave Gallaher
section_title: Anglo-Boer War
hierarchical_section_title: Dave Gallaher / Anglo-Boer War
caption_attribution_description: English: Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers of the Auckland section of the Sixth New Zealand Contingent Top Row -- Sergeant Chappe-Hall, Corporal White, Corporal Ashworth, Corporal Dave Gallaher, Sergeant Banks Middle Row -- Sergeant Drake, Lient. Sykes, Captain Markham, Sergeant Major Johns, Sergeant Cox. Front Row -- Corporal O'Neil, Lance-Corporal Little.
context_page_description: David Gallaher was an Irish-born New Zealand rugby union footballer best remembered as the captain of the "Original All Blacks"—the 1905–06 New Zealand national team, the first representative New Zealand side to tour the British Isles. Under Gallaher's leadership the Originals won 34 out of 35 matches over the course of tour, including legs in France and North America; the New Zealanders scored 976 points and conceded only 59. Before returning home he co-wrote the classic rugby text The Complete Rugby Footballer with his vice-captain Billy Stead. Gallaher retired as a player after the 1905–06 tour and took up coaching and selecting; he was a selector for both Auckland and New Zealand for most of the following decade.
  Born in Ramelton, Ireland, Gallaher migrated to New Zealand with his family as a small child. After moving to Auckland, in 1895 he joined Ponsonby RFC and was selected for his province in 1896. In 1901–02 he served with the New Zealand Contingent in the Anglo-Boer War. He first appeared on the New Zealand national team for their unbeaten tour of Australia in 1903, and played in New Zealand's first ever Test match, against Australia in Sydney.
context_section_description: In January 1901 Gallaher joined the Sixth New Zealand Contingent of Mounted Rifles for service in the Anglo-Boer War. When enlisting he gave his date of birth as 31 October 1876, three years later than the actual date. It is unknown why he did this but the later date continued to be used in official records for the rest of his life. Gallaher was given a send-off dinner by his Ponsonby club before the contingent departed from Auckland on 31 January. After disembarking in South Africa at East London on 14 March 1901, Gallaher's contingent immediately embarked for Pretoria, and it was there that, as part of forces under the command of General Herbert Plumer, they set about their task of "rid[ding] the Northern Transvaal of Boer guerrillas and sympathizers."
  A member of the contingent's 16th (Auckland) Company, he served in the advanced guard, who scouted ahead of the main force. In October 1901 Gallaher contracted malaria, and was hospitalised in Charlestown, Natal. In a letter he composed to his sister while recovering he wrote:
  we have been all over S[outh] Africa pretty well I believe, on the trek the whole time and it looks as if we will be trekking till the end of the Chapter. We have a fair share of the fighting all the time and I am still alive and kicking although I have had a couple of pretty close calls, one day I thought I would have to say good bye to old New Zealand but I had my usual luck and so came out all right
  — Dave Gallaher, Letter to his sister Molly, 18 October 1901
  Between late December 1901 and early January 1902 Gallaher and his contingent were involved in a number of skirmishes. He described one incident where he had several Boer fighters in his sights, but did not have "the heart" to fire at them while they rescued one of their comrades.  Describing a later encounter to his sister, Gallaher wrote: "We had a total of 22 killed and 36 injured and a few taken prisoners[;] it was a pretty mournful sight to see the Red Cross bearers cruising around the field fetching all the dead and wounded who were laying all over the place". By March 1902 Gallaher had reached the rank of squadron sergeant-major, and his contingent was on its way to Durban. There the unit boarded ship for New Zealand, but Gallaher stayed behind, transferring to the Tenth New Zealand Contingent. His new unit did not see active service in South Africa, and he returned with them to New Zealand in August 1902. For his service Gallaher received the Queen's South Africa Medal (Cape Colony, Orange Free State, and Transvaal Clasps), and King's South Africa Medal (South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902 Clasps).
caption: Gallaher with other corporals, sergeants and officers of the Sixth New Zealand Contingent before their departure for South Africa. Gallaher, then a corporal, is standing in the back row, second from right.
exif: {}